Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Molluscs: Blue Ringed Octopus Warning Coloration
Did you know that a blue-ringed octopus has bright blue ring patterning on its body that it flashes to warn off predators? View this video showing how the octopus warns about its very poisonous venom. [0:59]
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Cambrian Explosion
Des Collins studies the fossils of the Burgess Shale that represent the Cambrian Explosion of animal life. An animation of this event shows the transition from the simple animals that existed before the explosion to the many complex,...
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Genetics: How Genes Direct Development
All the cells in all animals have a complete set of genes with the instructions for building an organism. Working with mutations in fruit flies, scientists have found a group of regulatory genes called Hox genes that signal other genes...
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Paleontology: New Evidence Revises Thinking, Anomalocaris
It sometimes takes years and many mistakes to piece together an entire animal. Collins uses Anomalocaris as an example of the long complicated process. Several fossil pieces of Anomalocaris were originally identified as entirely...
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Paleontology: Paleontologists Study Fossils
A single location, the Burgess Shale, in the Canadian Rockies has revealed thousands of fossils that tell a story of an ancient explosion of animal life, called the Cambrian Explosion. [5:05]
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Taxonomy
Taxonomists organize the diversity of life. Aristotle was the first to attempt to do this. Then in the 1700s Linnaeus introduced the idea of genus and species. Later Darwin revolutionized science with the idea that species can change...
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Annelids: Powerful and Capable Worms
An animation focusing on annelids and their segmented bodies, with both a nervous and circulatory system and a one-way gut. They have mastered the art of digging and live in an incredible diversity of habitats. Tube-dwelling worms live...
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: The Story of the Animal Kingdom: Chordates: We're All Family
A video describing an amphioxus, a worm-like animal, that is our ancestor with numerous common features including the precursor to the vertebrate backbone. Learn how some chordates like tunicates, salps, and larvaceans, have remained...
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Cnidarians: Life on the Move
Did you know that Cnidarians were the first animals to have muscles and nerves to produce behavior? They were also the first to have a mouth and stomach to digest food. This animiation will help you learn about nematocysts when we watch...
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Echinoderms: The Ultimate Animal
Echinoderms are slow animals radically different from us, but they are an evolutionary success. All echinoderms have five-part symmetry. We see the inner workings of sea stars, from their tube feet to their skeleton on this animation....
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Flatworms: The First Hunter
Want to learn more flatworms? This animation will allow you to learn about flatworms, the first animal to hunt, are found in the ocean, freshwater, on land, and even inside other animals. The ancient flatworms were the first animals to...
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Marine Arthropods: A Successful Design
Learn through this video about marine arthropod such as crabs, shrimps, and lobsters. Understand that these animals have jointed appendages that are both strong and flexible which they use for sensing the world, feeding, and moving....
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Molluscs: The Survival Game
An animation showing that molluscs' basic body plan includes a foot for mobility; a mantle that secretes a shell and a radula for eating. Learn that molluscs today show many variations on this original body plan. An abalone escapes a sea...
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Sponges: Origins
Learn about the first animal in this video. The ancient sponge appeared about 2.5 billion years ago coming in many sizes and shapes, sponge bodies are a loose assemblage of cells held together by a special protein called collagen which...
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Terrestrial Arthropods: The Conquerors
A video exploring arthropods which were the first animals to venture onto land and spread over the earth. Their body plan allowed them to diversify and adapt to every environment, including the air, inventing new ways to extract oxygen...
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Annelids: Abarenicola, Burrowing Worm
An animation showing how an abarenicola uses its powerful proboscis and muscles to dig burrows in the sediment on the sea floor. [2:38]
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Annelids: Diopatra: Tube Dwelling Worm
A video focusing on the feeding style of the sedentary animal, diopatra. See how diopatra's vertical tubes cover a mudflat seen at low tide. Speeding up the day, you will see the tide come in and cover the tubes. Now underwater, the...
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Annelids: Leeches
A video where you will see a leech latch onto a person's ankle and suck blood until it is gorged and falls off. [3:16]
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Annelids: Lumbricus, Earthworm
A video showing how earthworms burrow in soil feeding and processing through their gut. This brings leaf debris and its nutrients into the soil, benefiting many organisms. [3:28]
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Annelids: Terrebellid: Spaghetti Worm
In time-lapse we see spaghetti worms extend their long tentacles out from their tubes to feed. [1:32]
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Arthropods: Blue Crab Molting
Did you know an arthropods' exoskeleton must be shed or molted when they grow. This sequence shows how a blue crab must pull its legs and body out of the old shell. [2:24]
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Arthropods: Dragonfly Larva Hunts Newt
A video that shows how a dragonfly larva hunts a newt. See how a dragonfly larva stalks prey underwater and catches a newt. [2:06]
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Arthropods: Dragonfly Metamorphosis
See a dragonfly's metamorphosis with this video. Watch a dragonfly larva transform into a winged adult. [2:46]
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Arthropods: Horseshoe Crab
Learn about how horseshoe crabs mate in the water but lay their eggs in sand. This video shows you how the crab allow their young develop safe from marine predators. [1:23]